Nissen, who works for Danish broadsheet Politiken and the Panos Pictures agency, had heard about two care homes about to use the hug curtain for the first time, but at the first “visually it was a mess”. However at the second, they had strung up the plastic in front of a church entrance with the sun shining through.
He said: “I just stood there with my camera, a bit overwhelmed. It is so joyful and heart-warming to witness all this love and tenderness in a country that was suffering so much during this deadly pandemic… I knew I had strong images, but still, when I looked at my camera later that day this particular image hit me completely unguarded and for a moment all was just silent.”